if you have French ancestry you will want to know a little more about French surnames and their
history join me today on the ancestral findings podcast to learn more about your French ancestors
[Music] if you have French ancestry you are in good company hundreds of millions of people around
the world can claim descent from this ancient nation like most countries in Europe the French
people did not start using surnames until the Middle Ages before that the villages were small
and most everyone in one knew everyone else there was not much mobility either people tended to live
in the same village for their entire lives and it was that way for generations surnames only began
to be used when some villages grew into cities and people started moving from the village of
their ancestors in search of more farmland more fertile soil or new job opportunities then they
needed something other than a first name that they may have shared with several other local people
to distinguish themselves thus surnames were born here are the four most common categories of French
surnames and what they mean this information can help you a lot in your genealogical quest
for your French ancestors the patronymics surname less commonly the mattre Nemec surname this was
the first type of surname used in most European countries and France was no exception the first
use of surnames was recorded in France in about the thousand 80s though it was still a
few centuries before their use in France became common when they first began to be used people
started with the patronymic metronomic surname when it was necessary to distinguish two or more
people with the same first name it was usually done by referencing the name of their father or
mother Charles son of Louis or and daughter of Charlotte would be common ways of referring to
people over time the names of the parents became the surnames of individuals in French both day
and fits mean son of and are used at the start of a surname the patronymic surname was by far the
most common type with the mattre nimac surname the first name of the mother only being used if
a person father was not known every now and then a suffix would be added to the end of a parent's
name to use as a surname for someone suffixes like Oh hallo ell Ellen and Alette all mean little son
of this was often given as a term of affection for a child usually one who had a parent with the same
first name as them and he usually followed them into adulthood becoming their permanent surname
for a while surnames changed in a family line with every generation as different first names produced
offspring with surnames based on those new first names it was only after several centuries that a
permanent surname based on the first name of some original long ago ancestor became the standard
way of using surnames based on parent names the occupation based surname the second most common
type of surname was one based on the occupation of an individual if a person did not want to be
associated with their parent or family if they were in hiding or establishing a new identity
or if they just wanted to bring more business to their doors by being intimately associated with
their profession then using their profession as a surname made sense telling someone to go
see Jacques the Baker for the best bread in town usually became Jacques Fournier the French word
for Baker since professions were commonly handed down through generations of families in the Middle
Ages the occupational surname had a good chance of gradually becoming the permanent surname of
a family common occupational surnames in France included such names as LeFay bruh craftsman gang
farmer Mershon merchant burger shepherd this set Weaver Mullins Miller page servant the descriptive
surname there were times when a family surname or occupational surname did not knew a person
justice there were people in villages and later cities who had such distinguishing features that
those features were the way other people usually referred to them telling someone they should go
visit pierre the blonde leblanc in french would be what a person in the Middle Ages would say
when referring to the person with the brightest blondest hair in the village over time the family
took on these descriptive surnames even if those family members no longer fit the description of
the original individual whose looks inspired the surname some common French surnames included Brune
someone with dark hair or a dark complexion LeGrande an exceptionally large or tall person
petite an exceptionally small or skinny person Donna do our Donna do meaning given to God and
used to refer to children who were pledged to the priesthood or the convent or who were orphaned
usually orphans who had unknown parents the geographical surname these surnames came later in
the history of surnames when people began to move from the villages of their birth and ancestors
they required a way to describe themselves to people in their new residence that would let
those new neighbors know who they were knowing where a person came from inspired trust and was
used as a surname in a new place even if that person had a different surname in their original
village like other surnames the geographical one eventually came to be used not just by one new
person in town but by their children grandchildren and descendants down through the generations some
common French geographical surnames include chastain meaning from near chestnut trees du
Pont meaning from by the bridge Beaulieu meaning from the beautiful place dis chomp meaning from
the fields du Puy meaning from by the well Beaumont meaning from the beautiful Hill
Traverse meaning from near a bridge or Ford de Mar a meaning from by the marsh Marcel a city in
France that is a common French surname because so many people were or are from there when you know
a little about the history of French surnames you can easily use them to trace your family
tree back farther in France and learn a little about your ancient French ancestors as you do so
[Music] she is best known today as the founder and first president of the American Red Cross
however she was also a genuine Civil War heroine her accomplishments and heroism in the Civil War
are often forgotten amid her Red Cross tale join me next time on the ancestral findings podcast to
learn more about this civil war hero thanks for joining me today I'll see you next time on the
ancestral findings podcast and for further info you can visit us at ancestral findings dot-com